Avalanche’s C-chain halts block production for an hour: A bug or a feature?

On Mar 27, 2023

Avalanche resumed operations as usual despite pausing block production for the second time in a week.
AVAX maintains its ranging performance as the market anticipates the next directional shift.

The Avalanche blockchain might be the latest network to experience downtime. The network reportedly stopped producing blocks for almost an hour in the last 24 hours.

Reports indicate that the Avalanche C chain halted block production for at least 50 minutes. Such an outcome can only occur due to a bug or problems with the code, or an organized network pause. Although block production has since continued, there are still a lot of unknowns regarding the situation.

Avalanche C chain stops producing blocks again for over 50 minutes. https://t.co/SuQAjgbouc https://t.co/Nxvhjhg3ml
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 26, 2023

Avalanche has not yet released an official statement regarding the event. However, there are claims that the incident may have been caused by validator challenges.

Also, the incident on 26 March marked the second time that the network experienced a block production disruption within the last 7 days. The previous incident occurred on 23 March.

How does the paused block production affect the network?

Pausing block production is akin to pausing or stopping the network. This is because transactions cannot be recorded or verified without the creation of extra blocks.

Block creation and validation are often paused in case of a bug in the system to allow developers and engineers to solve the underlying issues.

On the other hand, the ability to halt a blockchain at will creates concerns about immutability and decentralization. Avalanche continued operating as usual after resuming block production. Neither of the two incidents has so far had an impact on AVAX’s price action.

AVAX’s price reflects the overall outcome of the crypto market. It has been locked in a ranging market for the last seven days. AVAX exchanged hands at $16.7 at press time, which was close to its weekly short-term support.

AVAX price action

Source: TradingView

As far as on-chain observations are concerned, the weighted sentiment dropped to its weekly low on 20 March. It has since then bounced back, confirming the return of some confidence among investors.

Derivatives demand fell to the lowest weekly level during Sunday’s (26 March) trading session. Both the Binance and DYDX funding rates have been recovering in the last 24 hours.

AVAX weighted sentiment, and derivatives demand

Source: Santiment

Can investors expect a strong bounce in AVAX price given the above observations? A slight upside is possible given the ranging scenario where the price is currently in the lower range. However, volatility is currently at a weekly low hence a strong bounce may not necessarily be expected.

On the plus side, Avalanche’s development activity, at press time, was at its highest point in the last seven days. This was an indication that developers were already working on issues affecting the network.

Avalanche development activity and AVAX volatility

Source: Santiment

This article originally appeared here.